Docker environment variables have no effect on the running instance #1008

New Issue

OVERLORD · 2026-02-04T23:36:56+03:00

OVERLORD commented

2026-02-04 23:36:56 +03:00

Originally created by @rspindler on GitHub (Apr 5, 2021).

Subject of the issue

The environment variable settings in the docker-compose file don't seem to have any effect on the running instance of the bitwardenrs server.

I did configure mine as follows:

version: '3'

services:
  bitwarden:
    image: bitwardenrs/server:latest
    container_name: bitwarden
    restart: always
    ports:
      - 8082:80
      - 3021:3021
    environment:
      - WEBSOCKET_ENABLED=true
      - SIGNUP_ALLOWD=false
      - ADMIN_TOKEN=removed
    volumes:
      - ./data:/data

(For security reasons, I removed the admin token)

The port setup is necessary like that because I have a few more services running on the same machine. I do use a reverse proxy, which is located on a whole different machine and handles all of my internal servers. The proxy is using the configuration from here: https://github.com/dani-garcia/bitwarden_rs/wiki/Proxy-examples

Neither SIGNUP_ALLOWED nor ADMIN_TOKEN really do change anything. The message I get when I try to open the admin page in the browser is The admin panel is disabled, please configure the 'ADMIN_TOKEN' variable to enable it.

And I can sign up for new accounts on the web vault, which is basically what I want to disable, since I plan to make my the server available from outside of my home network.

Deployment environment

bitwarden_rs version: 1.20.0 with bitwardenrs/server:latest

Install method: Docker image, using docker-compose
Clients used: web vault
Reverse proxy and version: nginx, most recent nginx:alpine image available. I use a acentral reverse proxy on a RPI to handle all my in-house network stuff.
Other relevant details:

Steps to reproduce

See above - configure a file and start it. The try to open the admin page

Expected behaviour

Admin page is available

Actual behaviour

Admin page is not available

Troubleshooting data

Originally created by @rspindler on GitHub (Apr 5, 2021).   ### Subject of the issue The environment variable settings in the docker-compose file don't seem to have any effect on the running instance of the bitwardenrs server. I did configure mine as follows: ``` version: '3' services: bitwarden: image: bitwardenrs/server:latest container_name: bitwarden restart: always ports: - 8082:80 - 3021:3021 environment: - WEBSOCKET_ENABLED=true - SIGNUP_ALLOWD=false - ADMIN_TOKEN=removed volumes: - ./data:/data ``` (For security reasons, I removed the admin token) The port setup is necessary like that because I have a few more services running on the same machine. I do use a reverse proxy, which is located on a whole different machine and handles all of my internal servers. The proxy is using the configuration from here: https://github.com/dani-garcia/bitwarden_rs/wiki/Proxy-examples Neither `SIGNUP_ALLOWED` nor `ADMIN_TOKEN` really do change anything. The message I get when I try to open the admin page in the browser is _The admin panel is disabled, please configure the 'ADMIN_TOKEN' variable to enable it_. And I can sign up for new accounts on the web vault, which is basically what I want to disable, since I plan to make my the server available from outside of my home network. ### Deployment environment     * bitwarden_rs version: 1.20.0 with bitwardenrs/server:latest  * Install method: Docker image, using docker-compose * Clients used: web vault * Reverse proxy and version: nginx, most recent nginx:alpine image available. I use a acentral reverse proxy on a RPI to handle all my in-house network stuff. * Other relevant details: ### Steps to reproduce See above - configure a file and start it. The try to open the admin page ### Expected behaviour Admin page is available ### Actual behaviour Admin page is not available ### Troubleshooting data

OVERLORD closed this issue

2026-02-04 23:36:58 +03:00

OVERLORD commented

2026-02-04 23:37:01 +03:00

@jjlin commented on GitHub (Apr 5, 2021):

See https://github.com/dani-garcia/bitwarden_rs/wiki/Configuration-overview

@jjlin commented on GitHub (Apr 5, 2021): See https://github.com/dani-garcia/bitwarden_rs/wiki/Configuration-overview

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